California Governor signs deal permitting self driving cars on public streets

Governor of California, Jerry Brown tested the Toyota Prius for self driving features before he signed a bill which now permits Google and other companies to test their driverless cars on public streets and highways in and around California. By signing this bill, California becomes the second of the US states to permit such tests being carried out on its roads. These self driving cars can be operated on public roads for testing purposes on two conditions. First the car needs to be fully licensed and secondly a bonded operator is necessary in driver’s seat so as to take control in an emergency.

The actual signing of this bill took place at the Google Mountain View headquarters. Co-founder of Google Sergey Brin along with Alex Padilla, State Senator were also present while Brown signed the new law which now permits safe testing and implementation of this new driverless car. It is believed that once these autonomous vehicles are proved satisfactory it will lead to less accidents, reduce pollution levels, traffic jams and unnecessary congestion on streets while it will also prove to be a boon for the older or disabled community.

Such autonomous vehicle use computers, sensors and other devices to reduce collision, maneuver the vehicle and take instant decisions with more precision than a human driver while circumvent any possibility of human error of judgement. The new bill also ensures that the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles adopts new rules with regard to licensing, testing and operation of autonomous vehicle technology.

In the image above, Gov. Jerry Brown, CA State Senator Alex Padilla and Google’s Sergey Brin exiting a Google self-driving car on Tuesday.

Image Source: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES, Time NewsFeed